Drawer slide construction



Feb, 7, 1956* c. e. HALLBERG 2,496,997

DRAWER SLIDE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 20, 1944 Feb. 7, 1950 c. G. HALLBERG DRAWER SLIDE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 20, 1.944

Patented Feb. 7, 1950 2,496,997 DRAWER SLIDE CONSTRUCTION Carl G. Hallberg, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Acme Metal Products Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 20, 1944, Serial No. 564,273

5 Claims. (01. s12 150) This invention relates to a cabinet construction and more particularly to a unit cabinet, for example, as used in an assembly of kitchen cabinets for which the purchaser may select any of a number of different sizes and styles of unit cabinets and erect them to suit the dimensions of the room and to afford the facilities desired.

In the manufacture of cabinets of the kind referred to it has been the practice of the manufacturer to make and stock cabinets of various popular styles and widths in order that the architect or contractor may arrange the cabinets in a kitchen, for example, to suit the} layout and convenience desired by the home owner and with a. view to the proper kind of storage facilities. Even though the manufacturer may limit himself to stock sizes of cabinets it is still decidedly advantageous to be able to furnish one in which the shelves or drawers, as the case may be, may be quickly and easily arranged and rearranged in any desired sequence or spacing, and in which this feature may be availed of even after the cabinet is installed. Furthermore, it is desirable that such cabinet be so arranged that both drawers and shelves may be available in a single unit. I

Hence the primary object of this invention is to provide a cabinet so adapted as to receive;

either shelves or drawers in a varying arrangement, i. e., to receive shelves or drawers interchangeably and assortedly.

Another object is to provide a cabinet of the type referred to in which each drawer is provided with a pair of slides and the cabinet is provided with a plurality of pairs of' guides, one pair of guides being individual to each drawer and the cabinet and guides being so constructed that each pair of guides is shiftablewith respect to the cabinet to occupy any of'several elevations in order that varying heights of drawers may be assembled within the unit and in any of several desired sequences. I

Still another'ai'm is to provide guides as'aforesaid so formed and proportioned that the same guide will receive a drawer or' a shelf and with the same vertically adjustable feature pointed out in connection with the drawers.

Another object is to provide shiftable guides or the type described which are instantaneously attachable to, and detachable from the cabinet proper for shifting to various vertical positions therein.

With the foregoing and other objects which will appear hereinafter in. view. I have described and shown one preferred embodiment of the invention as particularly related to a cabinet with which drawers are associated. It will be apprehended from what follows that shelves may be substituted for the drawers and with thesame advantages.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view with certain parts broken away for clarity, showing a typical cabinet unit with two drawers in position and in-" cluding'a pair of doors;

Fig. 2' is a cross sectional view taken on the plane represented by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing one of thedrawers open to its maximum extent and with the doors of the cabinet omitted for simplicity;

Fig. 3 is a partial cross sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4- is a fragmentary perspective view of a drawer catch; and

Fig. 5 is a partial perspective view'on some-- what enlarged scale showing the details of-the adjustable guide in its relation to the interen gaging parts of the cabinet proper.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a typical cabinet construction comprising formed sheet metal side walls Ill, a rear wall H, afioor l2 and a base portion l3. It is also usually provided with a top 14 usually comprising" plywood l5 faced on its upper surface with linoleum l6 and bordered at the front or on all sides as desired" with metal nosing l1.

Since the base portion ['3 has no relation to the invention it will not be described in detail, but generally it comprises a sheet metal shell having appropriately turned edges by which it is joined to the cabinet proper, and with a front surface set back as shown to provide'a space for the toes of a person standing at the counterformed by the top M. Although likewise forming no part of the invention, there is also provided a pair of doors 2| hinged as at 22 to the" cabinet proper and provided with the usual;

handles 23.

Each side IU of the cabinet is flanged at the rear to overlap the rear wall II to which it is appropriately joined and is bent around at the front edge thereof (Figs. 2 and 5) to form a? forwardly facing narrow edge portion 25 which; is then returned to within the cabinet to form of the cabinet a box-like stile whereby the two' free-standing edges of the side walls HJ are substantially stiffened for proper support of the guides and the doors. At predetermined spacedapart intervals in the walls 26 there is a plurality of narrow rectangular apertures or slots 3| (Fig. 1) having the longer dimension horizontally disposed as more clearly shown in Fig. 5, and for a purpose to be detailed hereinafter.

Disposed against the inner face of the rear wall II is a pair of vertical supporting and stiffening members 4| generally of channel form (Figs. 2 and and comprising a forwardly facing wall or web 42, edge walls 43, and mounting flanges 44. The members 4| may be spot welded or otherwise appropriately fastened in a vertical position against the wall H and have in the web 42 a plurality of narrow rectangular apertures or slots 46 having the longer dimension disposed in a vertical direction (Fig. 5) for a purpose to be described hereinafter. At this juncture it is to be noted that, measured in a vertical direction, the number of the apertures 3| and of the apertures 46 is the same.

Adapted to be supported within the cabinet is a plurality of guides 5| there being shown in the present instance six such guides associated in three pairs. These guides are of channel form, preferably made from sheet metal and formed in a punch press, and shown in detail in Fig. 5. At the forward end the web 52 thereof is provided with a deformed flap or projection 53 resulting from punching a square opening through the web 52 but leaving one side of said opening uncut. In that manner the metal deformed from the opening is disposed away from and parallel to the web 52 as shown. If desired, the projection 53 may be slightly curved as at 54, for a purpose to be described. -At their rearward extremity the flanges 55 and 56 are cut away for a distance to leave the web 52 extending beyond the flanges into a projection 51 preferably chamfered at its outer corners as at 58. The vertical dimension of the projection 51 is just sufficient to permit the same to enter a slot 46 in a snug, but not tight, fit and the horizontal dimension of the slot is just slightly wider than the thickness of the projection 51 and for the same reason. The horizontal dimension of the projection 53 measured along the guide 5| is such as to permit the same to be received in the slot 3| and this width is so selected as to permit the projection 51 first to be entered in the slot 46 and then the projection 53 entered in the slot 3|. To install a guide, the rear projection 51 is inserted in its associated aperture 46 and the front end of the guide 5| grasped manually and given a slight twist (clockwise for a left-hand guide and counterclockwise for a right-hand guide). Thus, the flare 54 may be brought within the slot 3| and then the front end of the guide urged downwardly, the projection 53 binding against the' inner face of the wall 26 to hold securely the guide with respect to the cabinet. Thus it will be seen that the guides 5| are received and rigidly supported by the member 4| and the wall 26, and that due to'the plurality of slots 3| and 46 provided, the guides may be selectively fitted into any particular pair of such apertures, or else the guide may be omitted entirely. Furthermore, by virtue of the right-angled disposition of the projections 53 and 51 accidental dislodgment is effectively prevented.

For purposes of illustration I have shown a cabinet intended to receive a plurality of drawers, there being a central drawer higher than the two remaining drawers. For simplicity one of the (Fig. 2).

narrower drawers has been omitted from the cabinet.

Each of these drawers may be of any desired form, for example, comprising a thin sheet metal bottom, front, end and side walls, spot welded or otherwise fastened together, and is provided on each of its two side walls 6| with a slide 62 Each of the slides 62 is preferably formed of sheet metal in substantially a channel form, and is provided with a flange 63 turned under the lower face of the bottom 64 of the drawer and firmly attached thereto. In that manner the slide itself form's additional reinforcement and stiffening for the lower side corhere of the drawer (Fig. 3). The dimensions of the channel portion proper 65 of the slides 62 are such as to permit the slide to enter for free sliding movement within the pair of guides 5| individual thereto but without any unnecessary play which might result in early maladjustment and wear of the parts.

To prevent a drawer from being withdrawn too far with consequent danger of spillin its contents, there is provided on each side thereof a catch 1|, most clearly seen in Fig. 4, which is freely pivoted on the exterior face of the side wall 6| of the drawer upon a pin 12. At its forward extremity the catch 1| is deformed away from the drawer as at 13 in order to permit engagement thereof by the fingers and at its rearward extremity it is similarly deformed outwardly, as shown at 14, and terminates in a hooked portion 15. In each of theguides 5| there is provided a longitudinally extending aperture or slot'16 and in each of the slides 62 an aperture or slot 11.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when.

the drawer is withdrawn toits fullest extent the catch 1| may, due to its freely pivoting movement and the greater weight inherent in the portion 14 and hook 15, rotate about its pivot so as to permit the hook 15 to pass through the slots 16 and 11. Thus the hook 15 will effectively engage the front edge of the slot 16 and the drawer cannot be drawn out further. From an inspection of Fig. 4 it will be noted that the forward and downward incline given to the rear edge 8| 4 of the hook 15 is such that when it is desired to return the drawer into the cabinet, the said edge 8| will be cammed by the slot 16 in such manner as to free the hook 15 from the slots 16 and 11 and permit such movement of the drawer.

From the foregoing description it will be comprehended that if, it is desired to rearrange the drawers within the cabinet, they may be removed by pressing downwardly on the forward end 13 of each of the catches 1| to free the hook from the slots 16 and 11, whereupon the guides 5| may be rearranged in any other desired order. For example, assuming that the cabinet is equipped with one high drawer and two not as high and it is desired to install the higher drawer at the top of the cabinet and the other two drawers below, then the topmost set of guides, as illustrated in Fig. 1, would be removed and placed in the next lower set of apertures 3| and 46. Thus the cabinet would be set up to receive the higheruse shelves, racks, or other article-supporting members instead of drawers, or both shelves,

drawers and other article-supporting members assortedly. I

Although the invention is shown embodied in a cabinet including drawers, shelves and/ or othertypes of article-supporting members comprising sheet metal, it-will be' understoo'dtliat the invention is not intended to be limited to that material, but that in all its essentials the invention is equally applicable to a construction comprising wood, plastic, or any other material that may be availed of in building a cabinet unit of the type described. Moreover, I do not intend to limit myself to guides 5| and slides 62 formed from a flat sheet of metal but they may be made up, if desired, of several pieces appropriately joined-,or they may be cast or formed in any other known manner.

While I have shown particular embodiments of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made, and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cabinet for receiving a drawer, which drawer includes a depthwise-extending slide portion at each side thereof, comprising in combination a body portion including side walls and a rear Wall defininga drawer-receiving space and including a front vertical member at the front end of each side wall and a rear vertical member secured adjacent each side of said rear wall, a pair of guides in said body portion and manually detachable therefrom, there being a guide individual to each slide portion and each guide receiving a slide portion, each said front member having a plurality of vertically-spaced horizontally-disposed rectangular apertures, each said guide having a thin, flat, elongated, principal portion and a downwardly-extending projection adjacent one extremity of said portion, one of said apertures receiving said projection, each projection having its principal plane parallel to the plane of said principal portion and spaced therefrom, each said aperture having a height substantially less than the height of said projection, each said guide being provided with a longitudinally-extending projection at its other extremity, and each said rear member having a plurality of vertically disposed spaced rectangular slots to receive snugly said last-mentioned projections whereby the accidental dislodgment of said guides is effectively prevented.

2. A cabinet for receiving a drawer, which drawer includes a depthwise-extending slide portion at each side thereof, comprising in combination a body portion including side walls and a rear wall defining a drawer-receiving space and including a front vertical member at the front end of each side wall and a rear vertical member secured adjacent each side of said rear wall, a plurality of guides in said body portion and manually detachable therefrom, there being a guide individual to each said slide portion and each said guide receiving a slide portion, each said front member having a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally disposed rectangular apertures, each said guide being of channel cross section and provided adjacent one extremity with a downwardly-extend:v ing projection consitituted by deforming a part of the web of said channel out of the plane thereof, said projection having its principal plane parallel to the plane of said web and spaced therefrom, one of said apertures receiving said projection, each said aperture having a height substantially less than the height of said pro;

.jection and the web of each guide extending 5 by the accidentaldislodgement-of said guides is effectively prevented.

3. A drawer guide assembly for a cabinet comprising in combination a pair of front vertical members forming part of the frontend of each sidewall of the cabinet and a pair of rear vertical members secured adjacent each side of the rear wall of said body, and a pair of elongated guides for supporting a drawer, each said guide being of channel cross section, each said guide including a downwardly extending projection adjacent one extremity thereof, and formed by deforming a part of the web of the channel from the normal plane thereof, said projection having its principal plane parallel to the plane of said web and spaced 2 therefrom, each said front member having a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally disposed rectangular apertures, each said aperture having a height substantially less than the height of said projection and snugly receiving the same, and

each guide having a rearwardly-extending projection formed as a continuation of the web beyond the flanges of the channel, each said rear mem her having a plurality of vertically disposed, spaced rectangular slots to snugly receive said last-mentioned projections whereby the accidental dislodgment of said guides is effectively prevented.

l. A guide assembly for an article-supporting member slidably insertable into a cabinet com- 5 prising in combination a front vertical member at the front end of each side wall of the cabinet and a rear vertical member secured adjacent each side of the rear wall of the cabinet, and a pair of elongated guides individual to the articlesupporting member, each said guide being of channel cross section with the web vertical and having a downwardly-extending projection adjacent one extremity of the web thereof and formed by deforming a portion of the web of the channel from the normal plane thereof, each said front member having a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally disposed rectangular apertures, each said projection fitting in one of said apertures, each said aperture having a height substantially less than the height of said projection and each said guide being provided with a rearwardlyextending projection formed as a continuation of the web beyond the flanges of the channel and said rear members having a plurality of vertically 55 disposed, vertically spaced slots to receive snugly said last-mentioned projections whereby the accidental dislodgment of said guides is effectively prevented.

5. A cabinet for receiving a drawer having a depthwise-extending slide at each side thereof,

comprising in combination a body including side walls and a rear wall defining a drawer-receiving space and including a front vertical member at the front end of each side wall, each said member being of hollow, rectangular cross section and having one of the sides thereof parallel to its respective side wall, and a pair of rear vertical members adjacent each edge of said rear wall, a pair of guides in said body and manually detachable therefrom, each slide being received in a 7 8 directed inwardly of the cabinet, a portion of said REFERENCES CITED web being struck out to form an ear parallel to said web and directed downwardly and adapted The following references are of record in the to be engaged in one of said slots, the struck-out file of this P n vertical dimension of said ear being substantially 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS greater than the corresponding dimension of one of said slots, and the flanges of each said guide Number Name Date at the rear end thereof being cut away to form a 682035 Comm sept- 1901 lfreely projected web portion, said rear members 1,504,523 Sherer 1924 having a plurality of vertically disposed slots, and 20 11758307 Bales May 13, 1930 said web portion being snugly engageable in one 19341644 Rand 1933 of said last mentioned slots. 1'958636 Vanderhoof May 1934 CARL G. HAILBERG. 

